First records of a rare snake eel, Leiuranus versicolor (Anguilliformes, Ophichthidae) from Japan
Yusuke HIBINO Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 805-0071, Japan
Yukiya OGATA Nobeoka Marine Science Station, Field Science Center, University of Miyazaki, 376-6 Akamizu, Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 889-0517, Japan & Graduate School of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Shunsuke ENDO Laboratory of Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Masaaki WADA Fisheries cooperative association of Iorigawa, 6-188 Iorigawa-nishi, Kadogawa-cho, Miyazaki 889-0605, Japan
Atsunobu MURASE Nobeoka Marine Science Station, Field Science Center, University of Miyazaki, 376-6 Akamizu, Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 889-0517, Japan & Department of Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Noritaka MOCHIOKA Laboratory of Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Abstract
Leiuranus versicolor (Richardson, 1848) is recorded based on a specimen from Miyazaki Prefecture, southern Japan. It represents the first Japanese and northernmost record. Leiuranus versicolor is similar to L. semicinctus, its single congener. The former can be easily separated from the latter by its unique banded pattern, usually with a narrow whitish yellow slit (vs. slit absent). The species was also photographed from Kashiwajima, southern part of Kochi Prefecture, southern Japan.
